Scratch-Preventing Mittens

ABSTRACT

The present invention pertains to wrist cuffs of wearing apparel that can fold out to cover a wearer&#39;s hands, and folded back into a cuff to allow a wearer&#39;s hands to operate normally; a typical use to prevent infants and children with eczema from scratching themselves or sucking thumbs.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF THE MATERIAL ON THE COMPACT DISC

None.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The field of the invention is apparel, principally mittens, gloves and other clothing that children and infants might wear on their hands to prevent them from scratching themselves, or prevent thumb-sucking

(2) Description of the Related Art Including Info Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.

Those who suffer from eczema struggle with a persistent desire to scratch the skin and aggravate its condition. Children and infants are particularly impacted, as they have less control than adults. Parents have developed various means to restrict the ability of their children to harm themselves. These solutions include wearing gloves, moisturizers, or even tying a child's arms to a belt so it can't reach an irritated area. Similar solutions are involved with approaches to assisting children in the cessation of thumb-sucking

These approaches are often ineffective, in that children can use their mouth to hold the mittens and pull them off of their hands. Parents often lose the mittens or misplace them, and the mittens generally don't match the clothing of the children or do not provide a pleasant esthetic. The present invention reduces these shortcomings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a fold-out mitten affixed to the end of sleeves. The sleeve is constructed so it is long enough to reach the end of the wearer's fingers, and the mitten is affixed to the backhand side of the sleeve. When a parent wants a child to have the normal use of his hands, the sleeve is folded back in a cuffed position. When a parent wants to employ the mitten element, he uncuffs the sleeve and reverses the mitten portion (turns it inside out), such that it encompasses the end of the sleeve, disallowing the wearer from use of his fingers or nails, or thumb-sucking.

Because the mittens are affixed to sleeves, wearing apparel can be built with the built-in mittens, so that the mittens are unable to be removed by the wearer.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

One object of the invention is to protect the wearer from a tendency to thumb-suck.

Another object is to prevent a wearer from scratching himself.

Another object is to ensure that a wearer is unable to easily remove the mitten.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1—Cuffed Flip Mitten, Palm: shows a scratch-preventing mitten folded in the cuff position 15, from the perspective of a viewer looking at the palm of the right hand 13. From this perspective, a viewer sees the contoured portion of the sleeve edge 17. The straight portion of the sleeve edge 19 is on the opposite side, invisible in this view.

FIG. 2—Cuffed Flip Mitten, Backhand: shows a scratch-preventing mitten folded in the cuff position 15, from the perspective of a viewer looking at the back of the right hand 13. From this perspective, a viewer sees the straight portion of the sleeve edge 19. The contoured portion of the sleeve edge 17 is on the opposite side, invisible in this view.

FIG. 3—Open Flip Mitten, Palm Side: shows a scratch-preventing mitten 11 in the open position 21 from the viewer looking at the palm of a right hand wearing the mitten. From this perspective, a viewer can see the end of the wearer's fingers 23, exposed above the contoured opening of the sleeve 17, the seam connecting the sleeve to the mitten element 29 and the straight portion of the sleeve folded out at 19. The contoured portion of the mitten pocket cover 27 is on the opposite side, invisible in this view.

FIG. 4—Open Flip Mitten, Backhand: shows a scratch-preventing mitten 11 in the open position 21, from the perspective of a viewer looking at the back of a right hand wearing the mitten. From this perspective, a viewer sees the leading edge of the sleeve 19, but not the end of the wearer's fingers 23, the contoured opening of the sleeve 17, or the straight portion of the mitten edge on the palm side of the wearer's wrist 29. The contoured portion of the mitten pocket cover 27 is visible in this view.

FIG. 5—Closed Flip Mitten, Palm: shows a scratch-preventing mitten 11 in the closed position 31, from the perspective of a viewer looking at the palm of a right hand wearing the mitten. From this perspective, the wearer's fingers 23 are not visible, or the contoured opening of the mitten 25. The straight portion of the mitten edge at the wearer's wrist 19 is visible. The contoured portion of the mitten edge 17 is invisible in this view.

FIG. 6—Closed Flip Mitten, Backhand: shows a scratch-preventing mitten 11 in the closed position 31, from the perspective of a viewer looking at the back of the right hand wearing the mitten. From this perspective, no part of the wearer's hands or fingers 23 are visible, or the contoured opening of the sleeve, which is inside the mitten 11. The straight portion of the mitten edge at the wearer's wrist seem 29 is not visible. The contoured portion of the mitten edge 17 is not visible in this view, however, the envelope of the mitten is determined by the straight portion of the sleeve 19.

FIGS. 7 a-7 b—Two examples of configurations and construction approaches to wearing apparel using the invention, including:

-   -   7 a: Button/Snap/Hook and Loop—Closed Flip Mittens 31 connected         by a neck and shoulder binding 45, waist binding 47, and         fastening means such as a button, snap, or hook/loop 49.     -   7 b: V-Neck—Closed Flip Mittens 31 connected by a typical shirt         construction and V-neck 51, reinforced seam 53,

FIG. 8—Cuffed Flip Mitten: shows scratch-preventing mittens 11 in a cuffed position employed in wearing apparel with sleeves connected by a strip of fabric 41 around the wearer's back, and optional arm sleeves 43.

FIG. 9—Open Flip Mitten: shows scratch-preventing mittens 11 in an open position 21 employed in wearing apparel with sleeves connected by a strip of fabric 41 around the wearer's back, and optional arm sleeves 43.

FIG. 10—Closed Flip Mitten: shows scratch-preventing mittens 11 in a closed position 31 employed in wearing apparel with sleeves connected by a strip of fabric 41 around the wearer's back, and optional arm sleeves 43.

FIG. 11—Side View of Restraint Mitten: shows a side sectional view of the mitten 11 constructed with contoured foam inserts 61 and Mitten Channel Divider 63.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, the foregoing objects and other advantages are attainted by a mitten element 11 mounted on the sleeve of a shirt, or similar article of clothing.

Construction of the invention begins with an elongated sleeve, constructed so the sleeve can be folded back as a cuff 15 with a contoured shape 17 visible while viewing the palm side as in FIG. 1, or the straight side of the cuff if viewing the back of the hand, as in FIG. 2. As currently constructed, the unfolded cuff (the “open flip mitten”) becomes the enveloping shape of the mitten, as best shown in FIG. 3, and currently constructed with a contoured edge 17, so when it is unfolded, a wearer can still use his fingers and hands 23, though somewhat inhibited.

When folded, the contoured edge 17 seen on FIG. 1 becomes the palm side contoured edge of the sleeve seen in FIG. 3, and the seam 29 connecting the mitten element to the sleeve at the wrist is visible on the palm side.

FIG. 4 shows the back side of the hand when the mitten is open. The mitten pocket 11 is sewn to the back of the cuff, but is open at its bottom, not sewn to the seam 29, and overlaps the sleeve, extending to contoured edge 27. When in the cuffed position, the mitten element folds along with the sleeve to become the cuff of the back of the hand.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the closed mitten position 31 from the palm and back hand views. To use the apparel in this configuration, a user first unfolds the sleeve from the cuffed position 15 to the sleeves' full length. Then the user reverses the mitten (turns it inside out), which puts the sleeve into the mitten and closes the sleeve opening. In this configuration, the longer contoured end of the mitten 27 is now visible on the palm side, as the former interior of the mitten pocket is now the exterior of the mitten. In this closed mitten position, a wearer cannot effectively scratch himself, or suck his thumb.

FIGS. 7 a and 7 b show possible constructions of the mittens with wearing apparel. The mittens are always part of a sleeve construction, and the sleeves are always part of some sort of shirt or garment worn on the upper torso.

FIG. 8 is a view of the invention in the cuffed position in a typical garment.

FIG. 9 is a view of the invention in the open mitten position in a typical garment.

FIG. 10 is a view of the invention in the closed mitten position in a typical garment.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the mitten 11 with a form insert 61 that provides extra protection to the palm side of the wearer's hands. The foam is intended to protect the palm side of the user's hands. The current manufacture of the mittens 11 uses a mitten channel divider 63 to separate the user's hands from the foam insert 61, but the mittens can be made in many ways.

In the invention as discussed above, the mitten envelope is on the back of the hand, but the mitten pocket could be on the front just as easily, and pull over the sleeve so the contoured flap 27 winds up on the back of the hand instead of the front. Another alternative would be to simplify the construction to just an elongated sleeve length that could be cuffed, or unfolded with a draw string to close off the end of the sleeve. The discussion of the contoured surfaces in the construction is wholly optional, and provided merely to assist in identification of the mitten and help the user more easily pull it over the sleeve while reversing the mitten and taking it from the “open” to the “closed” positions. 

1. An article of clothing comprising a shirt or top with an elongated sleeve length, and a mitten enclosure affixed to the sleeve, such that the mitten encompasses the sleeve end when reversed, closing the end of the sleeve.
 2. An article of clothing as in claim one constructed such that the elongated sleeve length and mitten combination can fold to form a cuff in the sleeve.
 3. An article of clothing as in claim one constructed with contoured padding inserts on the interior palm side of the mitten.
 4. An article of clothing as in claim one where two matching mitten enclosures are constructed on one article of clothing, one at the end of each sleeve.
 5. An article of clothing as in claim one where a fastening means is sufficiently complex that an infant or small child cannot easily remove the apparel once it is in place.
 6. An article of clothing comprising a shirt or top with an elongated sleeve length, and a draw string constructed at the end of the sleeve, such that the draw string can be tightened and close off the sleeve. 